
NoTE.—"Apostle" is a word of Greek
derivation and means "one sent forth"; as
the name indicates, apostles were men sent
forth by the church on great preaching
missions.
There is no greater position in life than
that of spiritual leadership, by means of
which the gospel is preached and taught,
sinners are confronted with the claims of
God, souls are saved from sin, and the
weak are made strong. Persons possessing
and excercising these gifts—apostles, evan-
gelists, prophets, pastors, teachers—may or
may not hold elective administrative offices
in the church. They are the consecrated
Christians who magnify the gift God has
given them by bearing a witness that leads
men to accept Christ and to become strong
in the faith.
4.
Which spiritual gift qualifies a
person for administrative responsi-
bilities in the church? 1 Cor.
12:28.
NOTE.—Instead of "governments," the
Revised Standard Version reads "adminis-
trators." The word Paul used here means
to steer, to act as helmsman, to guide. In
any fellowship or organization there is
a
great need for persons having administrative
abilities to help the group organize for its
work, to counsel, to lay plans, to direct, to
maintain order, to prevent confusion, and
to serve as chairmen and as public func-
tionaries representing the group.
5.
In New Testament times, what
were men called who were chosen to
be administrative as well as spiritual
leaders in the churches? 1 Tim. 5:17.
NoTE.—The term "elder" arose from the
fact that in the ancient East only men who
had attained a long maturity could com-
mand the respect necessary to be chosen by
the people to represent them. In the Old Tes-
tament, elders made up the ruling tribunal
in Israel. See Ex. 4:29; Judges 8:14. They
were generally the elected representatives of
the people. In the time of Jesus, the rulers
of the synagogues were called elders, as
were also certain members of the Sanhe-
drin. It was only natural, therefore, that
the early Christians used this title for the
18
men whom they chose as chairmen of their
meetings, as the principal administrating
officers and representatives of the church.
See 1 Peter 5:1; 2 John 1; 3 John 1.
6.
By what other name were the
elders called? Titus 1:5-7.
NOTE.—It is evident from Titus 1:5-7 that
elders were also called bishops. "Bishop"
comes from a Greek word meaning "over-
seer," "superintendent," or, in an extended
sense, "president." This is shown in Acts
20:17, 28, where the elders of Ephesus are
admonished to take heed to the flock "over
the which the Holy Spirit bath made you
overseers,"
which is the identical Greek
word elsewhere translated as "bishop."
From the qualifications required of bishops,
it is evident that they were the adminis-
trative as well as the spiritual leaders of
the churches. 1 Tim. 3:2-5. The term "el-
der" evidently was the title of the office,
while the name "bishop" (overseer) in-
dicated the function of the office.
7.
What other officers are men-
tioned as functioning in the early
church? 1 Tim. 3:8, 13.
NOTE.—"Deacon" is a transliteration of
the Greek word
diakonos,
which means
a waiter, servant, minister, helper. Both
Jesus and Paul used this word of them-
selves. See Matt. 20:28; Col. 1:25; 1 Cor.
3:5; Eph. 3:7. Paul used the term somewhat
as an equivalent of our word "minister"
today, although the office early came to
include supervision of church property,
finances, caring for the poor, visiting the
sick, as well as preaching the Word. The
seven men elected by the church at Jeru-
salem to fulfill these functions were un-
doubtedly deacons, although the Bible does
not explicitly call them such. See Acts
6:1-6, and
The Acts of the Apostles,
pages
89, 90.
Requisite Qualifications for
Church Officers
8.
What are the Bible requisites
for elders (or bishops)? 1 Tim. 3:2-7;
Titus 1:5-9.